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Even if you don't think you do, you already know plenty about commodities. Want us to prove it? No problem.
What makes oil produced in Saudi Arabia different from oil exported from Nigeria? It's the same thing that makes the corn you ate at last summer¿s barbecue different from the corn used to produce ethanol. Stumped? Well, don't feel bad, it's a trick question. The answer? Absolutely nothing. Corn is corn no matter where it comes from -- just as wheat is wheat and natural gas is -- right! -- natural gas. (Though the quality may differ, the make-up is uniform.)
So, in less elaborate terms, corn and oil (and all other commodities) are homogenous goods that can be processed, resold and more often than not, used as an input to the production of other goods or services. These goods are traded on a commodity exchange, thus setting the price-per-barrel (or other metric unit) used to value them.
Now pay attention, here's a question that indeed does have an answer: What is the difference between a commodity and a stock? While a stock can tank and become worthless, a commodity cannot have its value be wiped to zero. One other difference: Most commodities are traded in futures, meaning traders buy and sell where they think the price of a product will be at a certain point in the future. Stocks trade based on the value of the underlying company at that point in time.
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Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Cognex Sells Its In-Vehicle Vision Business to Takata Corporation Group
Comtex
NATICK, Mass., Jul 02, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) ----Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ: CGNX) announced today that it has sold its lane departure warning business (LDW) to TK Holdings Inc. (Takata Corporation Group), a leading supplier of automotive safety systems based in Tokyo, Japan. Under the terms of the deal, Takata has acquired all of the assets of the LDW business for $3.15 million in cash. As a result of this sale, Cognex will record a pre-tax charge of approximately $3 million in the second quarter of 2008.
"Cognex entered the in-vehicle vision business in 2006 with the acquisition of AssistWare Technologies, a small company that had developed a vision system that could provide a warning to drivers when their vehicle was about to inadvertently cross a lane. And, over the past two years, we have invested additional funds to commercialize AssistWare's LDW product and to establish a business developing and selling machine vision products for driver assistance," said Dr. Robert J. Shillman, Chairman and CEO of Cognex. "Although we continue to believe that in-vehicle applications of machine vision will one day be a very large opportunity, it has become clear to us that delivering a complete LDW product to the automotive industry is not a profitable way for us to participate in that market. There are two reasons for that. First, car and truck manufacturers ('OEMs') want to work exclusively with their existing Tier One suppliers, who have the knowledge and experience needed to meet the extremely rigorous testing and quality standards required in the automotive industry. Next, although Tier One suppliers have expressed interest in Cognex's vision technology, they all required access to, and control of, our proprietary software code...which we just can't agree to."
Dr. Shillman continued, "Cognex invested in a business that appeared to have a very large market potential. Unfortunately, as we got more experience with that business, it became clear that it did not fit Cognex's profitable business model. We recognize that when investing outside of our core businesses that "you win some, and you lose some," and this was one of those times when our investment did not pay off. But, despite this loss, we will continue to search for, and invest in, promising new market opportunities."
About Cognex
Cognex Corporation designs, develops, manufactures and markets machine vision systems and sensors, or devices that can "see." Cognex vision products are used in factories around the world to automate the manufacture of a wide range of items and to assure their quality. Cognex is the world's leader in the machine vision industry, having shipped more than 400,000 machine vision systems, representing over $2 billion in cumulative revenue, since the company's founding in 1981. In addition to its corporate headquarters in Natick, Massachusetts, Cognex also has regional offices and distributors located throughout North America, Japan, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Visit Cognex on-line at http://www.cognex.com.
SOURCE: Cognex Corporation
Cognex Corporation Robin Pratt, 858-350-5065 Sr. Manager, Corporate Communications robin.pratt@cognex.com
Copyright Business Wire 2008
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